Battle For The Future
by ImagingThings
Summary: The battle for the future has begun! Rated T for... er... some details... KateAllan MarianRobin DjaqWill EveMuch they will all appear even if the haven't yet! AU
1. The Battle Begins

They were riding as fast as they could through the woods. The King was returning and they knew they had to stop the Black Knights from killing him. If things were ever to be right again.

As soon as Much had returned to the camp and told they news they'd all packed up and left. Well, nearly all of them, Tuck had decided to stay in Sherwood.

"I am, after all, still a man off God." He'd said. So they'd agreed that he, together with Beth and the other nuns would continue to give food to the poor. Eve, too, had offered her help but after her betrayal of the Sheriff they knew she had to keep a low profile, and there weren't really anything suspicious about a bunch of nuns handing out things to the poor.

Pushing the horses to their limits they still couldn't help fearing they'd be too late. Not even bothering to stop for rest when the sun set, only slowing down their pace a little so they could eat while still mounted, they rode on towards Portsmouth.

They were still quite a way from their goal when they heard the sound of clanging swords. Terrified Robin hid his face in his hands.

"We're too late!"

But Djaq rode up and placed her hand lightly on his shoulder.

"No. Listen; this is not a sound of a merciless slaughter, it is a sound of battle!"

Removing his hands Robin looked for a moment at the Gang.

"You're right. Come on lads!"

And they rode; faster than ever. The battle for the future was about to begin, had already started, and they had to reach it.

Robin probably would've rode right into battle had the others not stopped him.

"What're you talking about? We have to hurry."

"Robin…" Marian begun, "we can't all fight from our horse like you can."

So they all dismounted their horses and crept the last few metres towards the battlefield. Fortunately the battle was going on in a small valley, enabling them to get an overview.

No words were needed; quickly Robin, Allan and Kate each put an arrow on their bows, aimed and shot; the three arrows found their targets. Then they attacked.


	2. Ragin Battle

The battle was raging around her.

She'd soon used all her arrows and she plummeted right into the battle, preparing to stab and slash every Dark Knight she could get close to.

An arrow flew right past her and she could only look in horror as it found its target and another of the King's men fell to the ground. Dead. Then the shooter attacked; sword hitting sword with a terrible force.

He was gaining on her. What was a 20-year-old outlawed peasant girl to do against a fully grown, armour clad, man anyway? This wasn't like back in Nottingham; the guards, to be honest, weren't the best soldiers. The Black Knights was.

Fear raged through her mind as he looked at her with a mad look in his eyes. Blood splattered from his belly, his eyes stiffened. Someone had run him through.

No time to think. The battle went on. Black Knight with lifted sword towards the man whose back was turned. No! She would _not_ become a widow now. It was too early. Quickly she took the knife from her belt and threw it; killing the Black Knight.

She was back to back with someone; she didn't know who. It didn't matter. One of the knights received a deadly blow to his head, good old John.

Knight with lifted sword, ready to kill his opponent, falling with blood and brain-mash splashing from his head, a small hatchet buried in the skull.

_Wake up! You can't keep watching what everyone does. Keep fighting. _And she did. In front of her a Knight fell with a cut throat; she had killed him without noticing.

A sharp pain to her left shoulder; her arm hung limp down her side. Only her luck it hadn't been the right.

They all fought bravely, but they were outnumbered. The King's men fell like flies as they weren't used to fight without the protection of their armour, which none of them were wearing. Not even in their wildest dreams had any of them imagined that they would be running right into a trap. A trap led by the King's own brother.

Nevertheless they didn't give in. A bloodlust had seized them all; making them only more eager to kill. But still, as the ground was slowly coloured red by blood, they soon realized that the Black Knights weren't alone. Mercenaries kept arriving; adding more to the, already far superior group of Black Knights.

The mercenaries had no mercy. And in the end only twelve of the defenders were standing.


	3. The Battle Ends

It was hopeless. Twelve man standing. Yet none of them would yield; with lifted weapons they kept on facing the mercenaries.

They'd been herded together in the middle of the immense group of warriors; Kate felt the person she'd been fighting back to back with for a while; felt, never saw. She didn't see any of them; her entire focus was on the mercenaries.

"Well, John…" Robin's voice sounded like it came from faraway, "a good day to die, huh?"

Was that it? Were they really going to die? A part of her wanted to scream. Scream that it couldn't be true. That there had to be a way. But there wasn't. Once before her family had thought her to be dead; this time she really was going to die. Tears gleamed down her cheeks as she thought about her parents, her sister, her brother. She would never see them again.

One of the mercenaries where looking directly at her with a strange gleam in his blood-swollen eyes then a devious grin spread across his lips.

"Will you look at this? This one's a girl."

He took a step forward, clearly intending to get his ways with her, and she brought her sword down; slicing his belly open, making blood and guts well out.

Something seized her. With no warning she turned and ran her sword through another of the mercenaries, and another, again and again. She wanted to kill. She wanted to kill every last stinking mercenary.

Around her the battle had started again. She didn't mind; the only thing on her mind was killing. She _wanted_ to kill. She _needed_ to kill. And she did. Mercenary after mercenary fell for her sword which was as red as the name she was carrying. The name she had no intentions of dying with.

It was finally over. How many had she killed? She didn't know, she would never know. The pain in her shoulder returned to full force and she dropped her sword, screaming in pain.

"You okay?" he was at her side instantly. Looking at her with a worried expression.

"My… my shoulder…"

He opened his mouth to call for Djaq but quickly Kate put healthy hand up and covered his mouth.

"No. Look. She is busy with those who really need it. I can wait."

He put his arms around her and pulled her closer, making sure not to touch her injured arm.

"I'm not being funny," he murmured into her hair, "when that guy noticed you were a girl… I feared the worst. Then, you just started killing… you were scary, Kate, you killed five of them before anyone noticed what you were doing."

"You know me." She said smiling. "I am a little mad sometimes."

"No!" Came a voice suddenly. "You're not mad. A madman cannot say he's mad. I've been there. I know what I'm talking about."

Everyone went silent as they considered the words. With an expression of clear surprise Much turned and looked directly at the person who'd spoken.

"Harold?"


	4. Some Battles Don't End

Before Kate had anytime to realize exactly who the person who'd spoken was Djaq walked up to her.

"Let me look at your arm."

It wasn't a request, it was an order, and Kate knew better than to disobey the physician in matters like these.

Carefully the Saracen let her fingers run over the young peasant girl's bruised shoulder.

"Your shoulder blade is broken. I'll have to tie your arm up to your chest. This will hurt a little."

Hurt a little? It was like someone was trying to tear her arm off; she screamed in pain and saw red. With her right hand she hit and hit and hit every person trying to get close to her. No one was going to touch her arm. Someone forced something down her throat and she felt the world slip away.

When she came back to full consciousness she was sitting leaned against a tree, her left arm tied against her chest, the hand resting on the right shoulder. What had happened? Of course; she'd gone into a rampage when Djaq had tried to bandage her arm.

As quick as she could without the use of her left arm Kate rose and walked over to where she could hear the others talking.

"There you are Kate. Feeling better?"

Why did Much have a black eye? Ooh…

"Yeah… sorry about that… sorry about… you know… me going crazy…"

"That's okay." Djaq smiled reassuring from her place at Will's side. "Even the strongest soldiers lose their thoughts a little in situations like this. But still our luck that Harold was carrying around with the sleep medicine I gave him. But you haven't been introduced yet. This is Harold, and that is prince Malik."

"Never mind the 'prince'. Robin taught me the importance of being equal last time I was in England."

Smiling Kate went over and sat down besides Allan; wrapping her healthy arm around his back, resting her head on his shoulders.

She couldn't help herself. With no warning she started pulling at his shirt, loosening it from his trousers.

"Kate… what're you doing?"

"Shut up! You're talking too much…" she attacked him with the force of an animal. Pressing her lips against his she let her tongue move into his mouth and started to move it around. After a while a responded; letting his tongue move lightly against hers while his hands sought the bare flesh of her sides. A feeling a pure bliss went through her. And something hard hit her head.

"Welcome back to reality."

Judging on Robin's mischievous look there was no doubt he'd been throwing the small rock.

"Hi…" it was actually a little embarrassing, but funny nevertheless.

"Everyone has gone down to the river. In case you haven't noticed we're all still covered in blood. Especially you Kate."

With those words he left, leaving the young couple alone. It really was tempting just to start again where they left.

"Come on." Kate smiled. "We better have to go down there. Or we'll give the others an even better reason than the one we just gave them for making fun of us."

Arms wrapped around each other they walked the short distance to the river.

She'd been just to be around the river back in Sherwood, as long as she didn't have to go into the water. But this time, when she saw the water, she stopped in her tracks. Terrified.

"I… I can't!"


	5. And So The Battle Goes On

The world was slipping away from her. She couldn't move, could hardly breathe. Everything was just turning around madly.

"Please…" she murmured while clinging to the man beside her like he was some kind of life-line, which he in a way was, "Don't… don't make me go down there…"

"It'll be okay, love, you don't have to go under… just… so we can get you cleaned up… I'll hold you…"

She couldn't. Couldn't move, couldn't speak. So she simply shook her head. Then she tried to indicate that he should go down into the river alone. After all, he wasn't the one scared to dead.

"I'm not letting you go!"

She just loved him so much. Standing there; with his arms firmly around her, her own arm around his back, she could almost forget her fear.

Then someone came riding up to them.

"Listen; we need to check all the bodies… if we don't we… Kate! What's wrong?"

There was a faint sound of someone jumping off a horse and the next second a face appeared in front of her.

"Kate Scarlett. What's wrong?"

Slowly she turned her head and looked at the person.

"Car…Carter?"

"Yeah… it's me. Now tell me; what's wrong?"

"Remember how I told you about me… well… not exactly loving water, especially the river… well… there's the river. Anyway; what was it about checking the bodies?"

"Well; we need to know _if_ Prince John, The Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Guy of Gisborne are actually there."

Quickly she got out of Allan's embrace and started walking towards the former battlefield. Not surprisingly he instantly ran after her.

"Kate. You can't do this."

"It'll take me away from the river. Dead bodies I can handle… the river… I can't."

"Right. But I'll go with you then… I don't wanna leave you alone."

Carefully she turned and lifted her healthy hand up to touch him on his cheek.

"Thanks." She whispered softly. "For always being there for me. For never failing me."

"So… you've forgiven me for betraying you?"

"I forgave you the second I saw you down in the dungeon. I thought you knew that."

"Yeah… just wanted to hear it again…"

"Allan A'dale. You're a dishonest, stupid, foolish man. But I love you. You wouldn't be you if you weren't that way. Come on. Let's get to work."

It was a gruesome job so search all the bodies. But soon they realized something.

"I don't see Gisborne or the Sheriff anywhere… neither anyone looking anything like a prince. I'm afraid they're not here. THEY'RE NOT HERE!!"

Everyone stopped dead. Then Robin raced up to her.

"What're you saying Kate?"

"They're not here, Robin. They must've escaped in the panic of the second round of battle. When I…"

"Them getting away was _not_ your fault Kate."

She didn't answer, simply smiled. A long time ago; when she'd still been a child living in Locksley, she'd thought of Robin of Locksley and Marian of Kingsley as some of the most spoiled stupid brats in the world. How she had been proved wrong; they were both some of the nicest people in the entire world.

"We better tell the King. Let him decide what to do…"

"I heard. Hard to avoid the way you were yelling young…"

When they heard the King they all, well; Kate, Allan, Much, Will, John and Djaq, was about to kneel down. But the King stopped them:

"No my friends. You've all proved that it takes more than what you're born at to be noble; the real nobles are those acting brave."

"So…" Much began uncertain, "we aren't outlaws anymore?"

"Of course not. Lord Much of Bonschurch."

"That…" Poor Much was turning completely red now. "That was only a rouse created by the sheriff of Nottingham."

A smile spread across the King's face.

"I know. Robin told me. But of course; if you don't feel that's true. Then; kneel."

Slowly Much kneeled in front of the King who lifted his sword and tapped Much lightly on the shoulder.

"I, King Richard of England, with all the honours placed in me, dub thee Lord Much, Earl of Bonschurch."

Red as a tomato Much rose.

"By the way. What was it about the sheriff of Nottingham? We can't very well have Vaysey being sheriff anymore can we. So, Robin, Lord of Locksley and Earl of Huntington, will you accept the offer of being the new sheriff of Nottingham?"

"I will My Lord."

"Good! And now to some much more pressing matters. We all have to go to London."

For a long time after Kate would wonder where she got the bravery to speak directly to the King from. Even though he'd said he didn't feel above them.

"Actually, your Majesty, why don't you, the new sheriff of Nottingham, the soon to be Lady of Locksley, The Lord of Bonschurch, Prince Malik and Harold go to London while we peasants go back to Nottingham and Locksley and tell the good news?"

For a second the King looked at her. Then:

"You don't want to go to London, do you?"

"No. I don't."

It was decided that they'd do as Kate had suggested, only Harold decided to go back to Nottinghamshire.

"After all, I have an apology to make to the people in Locksley."

"Fine." Kate said smiling, even though she'd only known the former madman for a short day she felt some kind of connection to him, probably because she in a way were mad too. "You can borrow my horse."

"I'm not being funny. Are you going to walk?"

"No. But I'm afraid I'll have to ride with you. Not sure I can ride with one arm."

He lifted her onto his horse and then they rode towards Nottingham, knowing that the news they were carrying, The King had written a letter and told them to show it to Thornton at Locksley manor, were the best the people of Nottingham and the surrounding villages had received for a very long time.


	6. Battle Looming in the Horizon

They arrived at Locksley in the middle of the night. At first there was a little uncertainty of what to do; after all, neither of them was in any position to order around with servants, or so they felt. But in the end Allan decided to take matters in his own hand, he hit the door several times.

"Oi. Thornton! This is Allan A'dale. I'm bringing a message from King Richard."

A few moments after the elderly servant opened the door.

"The brave men of Robin Hood. What can I do for you?"

Without any words, John handled the letter to Thornton who read it while a broad smile gradually spread across his face until it reached all the way to his ears.

"That is good news indeed. Master Robin returning. And Sheriff as well. But come on in all of you. You must be exhausted. Ooh, my dear girl, you're wounded."

"It's nothing… Djaq fixed it."

"Well… come in. I'm sure Robin wouldn't mind. Come in. hey… I don't know you."

The last comment was mounted to Harold who stood a little behind the others, clearly feeling a little awkward of being back in Locksley. After all; his last visit to the village hadn't exactly been successful.

"I'm not in Robin's gang. I'm a friend. Remember that crazy guy who tried to burn the church down? Well; that was me."

"O… kay…"

Kate couldn't help smiling a little; Thornton simply looked so funny. But he seemed to trust Harold nevertheless. This was quite good.

That night they tried to get a little rest, having not really slept for days, but Kate found it really hard to sleep and not only because her shoulder hurt.

"What's wrong?"

She was standing at the window, looking out at the sleeping village.

"I just can't remember last time I slept in a house. But that's going to be what I'll do from now on…" without any more words she took a step forward into his outstretched arms. It felt really good; just to be standing there, feeling his heartbeat against hers. They stood like that for a moment without speaking; they never really needed to speak. After a while Kate peered over his shoulder to look at the others; soundly asleep.

"Look at them." She whispered, motioning over to Will and Djaq, sleeping arm in arm.

"Yeah… why don't we follow their example and get some sleep?"

They managed to find a corner where they could lay down relatively comfortably, even with Kate despite her wounded arm.

They'd only been dozing for a short while when they suddenly heard a loud banging on the door.

"Thornton! Thornton! Open, there's someone coming… on the main road."

Instantly Will jumped up and opened the door, outside stood a young dark haired boy, painting, it was clear that he had just run amazingly fast.

"Daniel! What's wrong?"

"Someone… coming… on the main road…" the poor boy had to fight to get every word out. "Many…"

"I'll ride up and look."

Without waiting for reply the former crusader jumped onto one of the horses, which they'd just tied up outside Locksley Manor, and raced towards the main road.

A little while after he returned.

"It's an army. Or at least part of one. As far as I'm concerned they'll be here at noon."

"Why?" Djaq had been kneeling in front of the terrified Daniel, trying to console him. Now she rose and stood beside Will, "It can't be because 'something has happened to the sheriff' as far as we know the _former_ sheriff and Prince John are together."

They couldn't help smiling at the way she empathized 'former', only Daniel looked at little confused.

"Robin's sheriff now!" Allan told him smiling. "But Djaq, since when did the _former _sheriff need any excuse to hurt people?"

Yeah, since when? But now they had some more pressing matters to think about.

"What about the people from this village? And the others as well?"

Neither of them had noticed that Thornton was awake too until he spoke.

"We could get them into Nottingham." Djaq suggested after a while and they decided to do as she said. John, Djaq, Will, Harold and Allan jumped onto the horses and raced towards the other villages, leaving Kate behind. Quickly she raced over to the church and started ringing the bell. Just as she had presumed the villagers instantly gathered outside.

"What's going on?" a man asked.

"Listen everyone. Prince John has sent and army towards us. They will be here at noon. So all of you; hide inside Nottingham."

"Why should we believe you?" came an angry voice from the crowd. "You're an outlaw."

Kate had never felt so angry in her life. Well, maybe she had but in that moment she couldn't remember.

"First of all; I, and my friends, are _not_ outlaws anymore. Second of all; how come you have no issue with trusting us when we bring food and money?"

That comment made them shut up. Then a young boy stepped towards Kate.

"I wanna fight too. I'm a good archer."

"It's not up to me to decide. But come, let's all go to Nottingham."

They were on their way towards the town when they suddenly saw Tuck come running towards them.

"Kate. What's going on?"

"There's an army coming. We're taking refugee in Nottingham."

When they arrived at the gate they were surprised to see that the people from the other villages had gathered outside.

"They won't let us in." John said angry.

"No, we won't" said a guard, "We have clear orders from the sheriff not to let anyone in _or_ out of Nottingham."

"Well," said Thornton, stepping forwards, "I'm sure the _new_ sheriff has another opinion. Here, read." And he handled the letter King Richard had written to the guard who reluctantly took it.

"Read it out loud."

"I, King Richard of England, hereby insert Robin of Locksley as sheriff of Nottingham and pardon all the crimes for which he and his friends stand accused."

With a letter from the King himself the guard couldn't really find any excuse for refusing to let them in. so he opened the gate and did as ordered.

"There you are. Where's Much?" Eve came running towards them.

"He has gone to Nottingham with the King and the others. He's Earl of Bonschurch after all. The King renewed the old title."

The gates were closet.


	7. Battle Closing In

The gates where shut. Now there was no way out; they were under a siege.

"Excuse me," said one of the guards, who'd just a few moments earlier refused to let them in, stepping forward, "we shouldn't be standing here. The castle is big enough to hold everyone."

"Why are you suddenly so helpful?"

The pure poison of Will's voice weren't to be misunderstood; he didn't trust that guard.

"My orders are to obey the Sheriff. And since he's not here I suppose I'll have to heed the orders of his men instead."

"Yeah…" Kate said, like her cousin she didn't trust the guard either, "But you aren't only following commands; you're helping, coming with your own ideas."

For a while no one said anything; they just stood, bewildered, looking at each other. Fear gleaming in the eyes of all the villagers.

"I'm not being funny, but… aren't we a little exposed here… maybe sometimes you have to trust some you didn't trust before."

"We go to the castle!"

Finally someone came with a clear order instead of just hinting. No one had really dared taking the lead and maybe that was the problem; neither of them had the authority needed in such a situation, no one except John.

They did as he'd told; making sure that all the people of Nottingham was awakened, some even had enough presence of mind to make sure all the food from the houses was brought into the castle.

When they arrived at the castle the commander of the guards came out towards them.

"What is this?" he demanded. "You were ordered not to let anyone in, or out."

"I'm sorry, sir, seems like we have a new sheriff." the guard they'd spoken with at the gate said, handing the commander the letter from King Richard.

For a while he just stood staring at the letter. Then suddenly he began ordering his men around, at first Kate feared he was telling them to attack but then she realized the true; the commander was in fact posting all his men as guards.

"Don't just stand there. Get inside."

Quickly everyone did as he'd said, and while the women and children hid away furthest away from the gate the men remained, ready to fight.

Uncertain what to do Kate hesitated. She didn't want to hide.

"You can't fight Kate."

But of course; one should always heed the orders of a physician. So Kate went over and kissed Allan then reluctantly moved away from the gate. To her surprise Djaq caught up with her a little while later.

"I told Will to say I'd be in the Sheriff's chamber, it's the only one big enough to serve as a hospital."

At first Kate didn't say anything, then a smile spread across her face.

"I'd like to see the face of old Vaysey if he ever hears of this."

Together the two girls walked towards to room who'd belonged to a man they'd both hated, still hated. To their surprise they found there was already some in there. Eve, Sarah and Jess, as well as a middle-aged woman Kate didn't know.

"Hi," Eve said, greeting them. I guessed you'd want to use this room to take care of the wounded in, so I got a little help."

Suddenly Kate realized that they'd already made a number of make-shift beds around the walls.

"Eve. You are a miracle."

"Thank you. Neither of you are bad either. But guess I have to present you. Kate, Djaq, this is Mary."

Smiling they said hello to Mary. Now they could only wait.


	8. Sounds of Battle

The battle had been going on for hours, or so it seemed to Kate as she stood by the window, looking out, trying to catch sight of a familiar face. at first she'd tried to help with the wounded but soon she'd had to realize that her wounded arm made that next to impossible; so it was only Djaq, Sarah and Mary who took care of the people being brought in; poor Jess was hiding in fear behind the bed.

"I made a mistake bringing her here…" Sarah said, looking with tears in her eyes at her terrified daughter.

"The monk, Tuck, is hiding with a large group in the chapel." Mary offered. "Kate, maybe you could take Jess there."

"Good idea. It'll be nice to be useful. Come Jess." Smiling Kate held her hand out to Jess, listening at the door – if the mercenaries had broken into the caste there would be no going to the chapel anyway – they made sure the coast was clear before going out and starting the walk down the hallway. It was sinisterly empty and it seems like an eternity before they reached the door to the chapel.

Opening the door the went inside to see a large group of people already assembled there; Tuck was sitting with a mother; trying to help soothe her crying child.

"Hello, my friends." He said, lifting his head.

"Hi…" Kate said, "Jess was a little scared, and I couldn't be of any help with the wounded… so… we thought it was better if we went over here."

Letting go off Jess' hand, Kate went over and sat beside the mother with the crying child; joining in the attempt to soothe the poor little boy. None of them could.

Feeling a surge of rage coming up – rage towards Prince John and his Black Knight. Rage towards her own inability to fight – Kate stood up and went over to stand by the door; listening if the mercenaries had gotten in; praying that they wouldn't.

She'd been standing there for a while when her eyes started to wander around the small room of the chapel; falling at the Bible on the altar. An idea strokes her like lighting from a clear sky.

"Tuck. Why don't you tell a story?"

"What?" The monk looked at her with a disbelieving look in his eyes.

"The girl is crazy." Came a voice. "We're in a battle, and she wants stories."

"No. Not _that_ kind of story. We're in a church. Why don't we have a small service? I _know _the Bible's in Latin… but… maybe you could translate a part into English."

Smiling Tuck went up and took the Bible by the altar, and then he went back down and sat besides the mother with the crying boy.

"Hello." He said to the boy. "Do you have a favourite story?"

Whipping the tears from his eyes the boy looked up.

"David and Goliath."

And Tuck told the story about how David, a sheepherder, killed the giant Goliath with only a slingshot.

"You know what?" he asked, looking around. "We're David. The mercenaries are Goliath. We can beat them."

"How?" Jess asked.

"Because the men fighting out there are fighting to protect their families. Their loved ones. The mercenaries are just fighting for money. Isn't that right?"

Turning his head to where Kate still stood, leaning against the door, Tuck smiled.

"You're right Kate. Does anyone have another favourite?"

And Tuck told one story after the other. And in each he could always find some source of comfort to the people hiding away from the battle. Outside they could still hear the sounds of battle but the fear was held a-bay.


	9. Then The Battle Was Finally Over

At one point Tuck ran out of stories making the silence fill the chapel. No sound was heard. Wait, _no_ sound?

"Listen." Jess said, looking around.

"Listen?" said a woman from the crowd. "What are we supposed to listen to? There's nothing to hear!"

"_Exactly!_" Kate still couldn't believe she'd been so slow. "There's nothing to hear because the battle's over!" suddenly a pang of worry hit her. "But… did they win?"

She hadn't intended to make everybody worried. But of course that was exactly what happened.

"Are they dead?"

"Will Prince John's men come and arrest us all?"

"It was hopeless to fight them!"

It went on like this. Kate could only look in horror; she couldn't console those people because the exact same thoughts were running through her own head.

"We don't know." It was Tuck's voice who finally made everybody calm down. "We don't know. And there's only one way to find out; we have to open that door and go out and look. Remember the stories I told you? Those people weren't afraid. And neither will we be."

His short speech managed to bring the hope back in everyone's hearts. Carefully they opened the door and walked the short way to the sheriff's chamber. It was clear that they _had_ in fact won. As they reached the chamber Kate could see Eve and Much embracing each other; a surge of joy for her two friends filled Kate, finally they could be really together. Will and Djaq were also embracing; she leaned her head against his chest. A little away Robin and Marian were talking with the king, arms firmly wrapped around each other. jess darted past her, and Sarah fell to her knees to gather her daughter in a hug. A woman stepped forward and a young man, the one who'd offered to fight, flung his arms around her. Mother and son? They had to be. John and Mary were talking together.

Kate saw all that, and much more, in one second. The next her view was blocked and she felt a pair of well-known arms around her. Slowly lifting her healthy arm she wrapped it around his neck and pull him down, kissing him long and passionately. What did she care everyone was looking? Not that their relationship was that much of a secret anyway.

Only after a long, blissful, while did they, reluctantly, break apart, keeping their arms around each other.

"I love you, Kate."

"I love you too. But, are they really dead? Prince John, Gisborne, the _former_ sheriff?" It had become quite the joke to put extra stress on former when talking about Vaysey.

"Not those three. Richard decided that there was a harder punishment that dead. They're going with a ship from Portsmouth next week; going to the Holy Land, to help rebuild the country after the war."

Yes. That was a fitting punishment.

The next evening a big party was held in the fields outside Nottingham, The entire population of both the town and the surrounding villages were invited. There King Richard publicly declared that Robin, Much, Marian, John, Will, Allan, Djaq, Kate and Tuck were no longer outlaws, as well as inserting Robin on the sheriff post.

"So…" Eleri asked. "When are you people going to marry?"

"We… don't know…" Eve was becoming bright red in her face.

"We really haven't thought about it. of course I'd want to wait to wait for my family to come from Scarborough."

"Why don't we all have the weddings together?" Marian turned smiling to her friends. "Robin and I have been talking; we could invite John of York and Beatrice. Count Friedrich. Your family, Kate. Luke. Beth. All our friends."

"Sounds like a good idea. Just wish we could invite Bassam too. But getting a message to Acre may be a little too difficult." Djaq looked really sad at the thought of her only remaining friend from home not being there on her big day.

"Actually, we spoke to a man in Acre called Bassam. A pigeon handler." Malik said

"Yes. That's him."

"He told us about the children of one of his good friends. Twins; Djaq and Safiyah. About how Safiyah had died and Djaq had disappeared. We, or rather Harold, could in turn tell about how we'd met a Saracen girl in a wood in England, living under the name of Djaq. Of course we realized that you had to be Safiyah. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"So, he asked me to bring this when I went to England with King Richard. In hope I would meet you." Smiling he reached in and took something from under his chair. It was a small cage, and inside it was something white and feathery.

"Lardner!" Djaq stared at the pigeon in disbelief.

"Where did you keep that?" Kate couldn't believe they hadn't noticed the bird before.

"A young boy called James, squire to the King, had enough presence of mind to take the bird and hide him in a tree when we were abducted. When we left for London we brought it with us."

The shadow gliding over Malik's face left no doubt that the young man had been killed like all the others.

Someone brought pen and paper to Djaq and she started to write her letter. And first Kate wondered why she didn't recognize any of the letters; after all; Tuck had been teaching her quite a bit on their trip to the monastery. Then she realized it; Djaq was, of course, writing in Arabic.

Having finished the letter Djaq reached out and carefully took Lardner out of the cage, fastened the letter and let the bird fly. Watching the white bird fly away Kate couldn't help smiling; it was like a symbol. For peace. For hope. For better times.


End file.
